This invention relates to a multipurpose label or business form, and more particularly to a tuck label adapted to be adhered to a substrate such as an envelope or package.
Commercial businesses who supply goods based on customer orders require a substantial amount of information about an order to be generated so that the persons taking the order, filling the order, shipping the order, billing the order, etc. can perform their jobs and insure that the goods reach the proper customer promptly. In the past, multiple pieces of printed paper have been generated either by hand, typewriter, or computer-driven printer and include such things as invoices, shipping labels, customer receipts, common carrier tracking labels, warehouse picking lists, bills of lading, and returned goods forms. Typically, multiple operations have been needed to generate all of those documents and labels. The time, labor, and paper needed to generate all of these items represents a significant cost to a business.
Some attempts have been made to combine two or more of the above forms into a single form or label. Webendorfer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,939, show a composite shipping label and price tag form. The form includes a pair of side-by-side shipping labels each having a plurality of price tags associated therewith. The price tags are designed to be tucked behind the shipping label which is then secured to the exterior of a package. Upon arrival at a destination, a portion of the shipping label is torn off along perforation lines, and the price tags are removed and placed on items carried in the package. However, the Webendorfer et al composite form is complex to manufacture, requiring die cuts to be made on both the label and release liner plies of the form.
O'Brien, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,167, shows a combination shipping and return label including an intermediate card connecting the shipping and return portions of the label. The shipping portion of the label includes bands of peripheral adhesive. However, the O'Brien label requires that the return shipping label be affixed first to the package with the remainder of the label assembly then Z-folded over it. Care must be taken to precisely position the peripheral adhesive so that it does not overlap the remaining portions of the label.
Accordingly, there remains a need in this art for a simplified operation which can produce a combination label or business form which provides all of the necessary documentation and yet which can be generated in a single pass through a printing device.